‘The Walking Dead’ Death Watch: Placing Odds On The Character Most Likely To Die In The Midseason Finale

The Walking Dead’s season finale, “Coda,” airs this Sunday night, and we know that it’s going to be devastating because Norman Reedus said so, and The Walking Dead almost always kills someone off in the midseason finale. Plus, no major character has died since Bob, several episodes back. The Walking Dead is due. Right now, there’s probably two or three too many characters on the show, making it difficult to introduce new ones in the next half season without overstuffing the cast (and we KNOW at least one new character will be introduced in the second half).

In other words, expect some characters to die. Who? The Walking Dead can be unpredictable, but let’s lay odds on the most likely to succumb in the midseason finale:

Sasha (3-1) — She’s lost her boyfriend, her brother has been neutered, and she’s in the midst of the action in the midseason finale. In the world of The Walking Dead, showing mercy often gets characters killed, and no one showed more mercy than Sasha in allowing Cop Bob to escape in the last episode. Plus, of the characters currently in Atlanta, Sasha is the most disposable.

Beth (6-1) — Then again, Daryl is also very close to Beth, who is in prime position to martyr herself in the midseason finale. However, it seems unlikely that Beth would die without seeing her sister Maggie again, and she’s in a good position to duplicate Carol’s arc from a weak to strong character.

Father Gabriel (7-1) — Gabriel really does seem like the most disposable character of the main cast — he served his function (he provided a space, the church, as a place to hang out) and now he’s on the run. Even if he doesn’t die, I can see him as a guy who disappears for a season or two, and pops back up in season 7.

Eugene (8-1) — Eugene’s initial character arcs seems to have run its course. He’s been outed as a fraud, and it’s possible his usefulness has been exhausted. On the other hand, he’s still very much a likable character on the show and he’s the kind of guy who might do well with a nice redemption arc.

Judith (9-1) — I don’t know how this happens, since — again — Judith is not in the main action at Grady (at least, for now), but the only thing that might be more devastating to Daryl than Carol or Beth dying would be the death of Judith.

Rosita/Tara (10-1) — Still the two least developed of the main characters, Scott Gimple may see this as an opportunity to develop them, or he may see them as disposable characters easy to kill off. We wouldn’t kick up much of a fuss if we lost them, but on the other hand, we wouldn’t feel much devastation, either.

Glenn (12-1) — We have no real reason to believe that Glenn is in imminent danger for the midseason finale, but things are unpredictable in zombie apocalypses. He’s been relegated to mostly a side character this season, and his death might propel Maggie into a new arc. Mostly, though, this is based on rumors before the season started that Glenn might die, although that particular threat seems to have evaporated.

Tyreese (14-1)– Tyreese has also lost much of his value as a character, especially after losing his bloodthirst. He’s been relegated to the caretaker of Lil Ass Kicker and provider of wisdom. With Abraham around now, Tyreese seems less useful to the survivors and kind of boring as a character, save for that big ole heart of his. His death would hurt, but it wouldn’t hurt the show much.

Abraham (20-1) — It feels like there’s so much more story to tell with Abraham. He’s useful as a check to Rick’s power on the show. He’s the leader and guiding force for a faction of the survivors, so I don’t see him dying just yet, but you never know with The Walking Dead.

Maggie (30-1) — Maggie may have been sidelined for much of the season, but she’s still one of the biggest draws for fans of The Walking Dead and killing her off would be detrimental to the series. Plus, no way she dies without seeing her sister again.

Carl (35-1) — It would make absolutely no sense to kill him off in the midseason finale, especially since he’s barely played a role the first half of the season.

Michonne (50-1) — Michonne hasn’t had a focus episode this season, she’s not in the main action at Grady, she’s a fan favorite, and there’s no reason to kill her off. Don’t see it.

Daryl (100-1) — Norman Reedus has already said that whatever happens to him in the midseason finale will alter his character moving ahead. He may not be bulletproof, but he’s pretty damn close.

I’m wondering if the episode title is a clue. Coda basically means an ending for a passage of music. We’ve seen small moments focused on art, the painting in the hospital the Dr. has, which also happens to be a religious painting, The Denial of St. Peter. Peter is accused of following Jesus but denies it. Then there was the comment made by Daryl about art, which is the complete opposite of how the Dr. and Beth feel about the subject. Beth speaks of singing with the Dr. I believe. It seems to point towards her, maybe she goes out in a sacrifice kind of way, like she gets overrun by walkers while everyone is getting out. The same way she was overrun that allowed Noah to escape.

Sasha was on Talking Dead last week so it won’t be her. They’d have just pushed her appearance back surely!? There’s a “mystery guest” this week, which usually accompanies somebody leaving the show. It’d be a shame to see Carol go, she’s just hitting her stride now…

Wasn’t their last mystery guest Andrew Lincoln, after the finale? They’ve joked about the ‘curse’ of being on the Talking Dead couch a few times, but I don’t put much weight to ‘mystery guest = actor done with the show’. I think Hardwick has stated that Chandler Riggs will make an appearance on Talking Dead, he just never said when, but I think it was supposed to be for this season.

I know they play it down but only once has the mystery guest NOT been someone who died. If it’d have been a mystery guest after episode 3 or something then maybe they’d be breaking the cycle. I mean; Mid season finale, four main characters in direct peril, and a “mystery guest” on the talking dead… Come on.

Given their lack of conversational English we can rule out Judith at least.

TWD has such a big cast that a bunch of actors who where introduced after season 2 is still in Also Starring-part after the credits. Both Melissa McBride (Carol), Scott Wilson (Hershel), Eugene (Josh McDermitt) has been this.

All I can say is … it better not be Carol !!! She has already been screwed (by Rick), and Rick admits he “owes” her. I see a larger presence for her going forward.
Sadly, I think it has to be Beth (?) I think she’ll get bit during the escape, they’ll whack an appendage (just like her Dad), but it’ll be too late … and she’ll die in Maggie’s arms!

I don’t want it to be, especially as they finally managed to give her interesting things to do and she got much more of a personality in these last few episodes, but I’m afraid it will be Beth. I thought it sounded really ominous when, last episode, she clasped Carol’s hand and said something along the lines of “I just want you to know I was here”. I’m convinced that was a setup for her demise… Her and Carol (of the characters seemingly most likely to be offed) are actually the two I least want to see go. The show has been doing such a great job on Carol’s character, I disagree with people here saying she hasn’t got any storylines left. She’s still one of the most interesting and watchable characters on the whole show to me.

Man if you think Eugene’s story arc is done you are gravely mistaken. He becomes one of the key figures in rebuilding society later on down the road because he reslly is more intelligent than other people, regardless of his initial lie. They’ve not really written him into the show that way as much but they’re already setting the stage for it with Rosita’s comments about “Eugene taught me this” about the water filter and the fishing… They’ve yet to find him useful but they figure it out later. He becomes an essential figure to the narrative leading up to and after All out War.